A/N; Whoa. It's been so fucking long, it's been like an actual lifetime. Many things happened during this long period of time, and life kicked me in the teeth as hard as it could, up until the point where I lost my 13 years old dog very suddenly. Writing became a mortal enemy instead of a best friend of mine, my creativity really suffered from everything that happened, and believe me... I was really, really angry with myself for letting all of you down, for making you wait so damn long for an update. I almost considered quitting this story and just leave it to die as it was, but luckily I didn't really give up on it, because so many of you never gave up on me, and I really hope you haven't forgotten about me, this story and all the lovely idiot that dwell it.

If you have messaged me and checked on me for all this time I thank you from the bottom of my heart, if I haven't replied to you it isn't 'cause I didn't want to but because I most likely forgot to do so. I see you, every single one of you.

So here I am, and here is this damn chapter. I hope you'll enjoy it, and I wanna thank each and everyone of you for your endless support and for deciding to stick with me, still! You mean a lot to me, and to the very existence of this story!

CHAPTER 25

The clanging of keys being fumbled with filled the air, especially as they fell to the floor of the empty landing. A few muttered curses echoed through the stairwell, then finally the right key slipped into the slot and with three turns the heavy door was finally pushed open.

Sanji sneaked inside his own house much like a thief, silent and quick, then pushed the door closed and collapsed back against it as he let himself slide down to sit on the floor. He tipped his head back, eyes falling shut as he let out a sonorous laugh. It was an odd reaction, but it was all he could do as he was alone after everything that had happened.

He was so filled with joy he thought he might have exploded. There was a grin that just couldn't slip off of his lips. He brought his fingertips to his mouth and gently swept them across the curve of his smile, as if he could still feel Zoro's lips pressing against his own.

He must have looked stupid as hell, but he couldn't help the thundering feelings that were swarming all through his body. He would have wanted to catch them one by one and cage them, keep them inside of himself for all eternity. Sanji wrapped his arms across his own lean figure, hugging himself as he sat on the floor for a little while longer. He didn't really feel like taking a shower and getting ready for work, even if he really needed to, but he could linger in that quiet moment for a few more moments.

Sleeping next to Zoro after such a long time had been the best thing he'd ever done in ages, it had been better than all the meaningless sex he'd ever had in his life. He could hardly believe it, but it was true… Just cuddling up with the love of his life had been more incredible and satisfying than the best of orgasms.

Sex.

The thought ticked in his mind and the word resonated through his ears.

Sanji had often fantasized about having sex with Zoro. Those powerful arms and abs looked like they knew how to show you an absolutely amazing time, and his green mohawk and broad shoulders were very inviting… To be held onto for dear life. He blushed for the millionth time that day. He found himself to be chewing way too hard on his lipring, and was met with the sudden epiphany of an uncomfortable feeling of tightness in his snug black jeans.

Great. That really wasn't the time for that. He needed to pull himself together and actually get ready to face the hours of work ahead of him. It was about time he stopped reminiscing and fantasizing, or else he would have probably spent the rest of the day sitting on the same spot.

With great effort, he tried to shake off everything that was too distracting, he stood up and picked his duffel bag off of the floor to carry with him to the bedroom. He really needed to wash those clothes and hop into the damn shower.

Sanji was just into his room, pulling out the sweaty, dirty outfits from the night before, when the screen of his phone lit up with Nami's beautiful face and started vibrating. Damn, she probably wanted to know every single detail about the night before, but he didn't have much time for that! He stared at the cellphone for a few moments, tongue piercing rubbing against his palate as he quickly debated with himself what he should have done.

"Goddamnit!" Sanji growled to himself, and grabbed his phone to pick up the call. Not answering to Nami wasn't really an option. He couldn't even manage to say hello, or anything else for that matter, because Nami was already speaking.

"Are you still with him?!" her tone was weirdly muffled, as if she didn't want anyone else to hear her.

"Hi, yourself," Sanji sighed, a smirk inevitably curling his lips "I'm home, I gotta get ready for work."

"Oh God, you must tell me everything!" Nami almost spelled out the last word, her tone was excited and definitely louder than before.

Sanji laughed and tucked his phone between his ear and shoulder to leave his hands free to collect his laundry, and move to the room with the washing machine in it.

"Well… I can tell you that I almost ruined everything, for starters." Sanji wasn't going to lie, he knew Nami would understand him and his reasons for acting a certain way.

"Why? What happened?" Nami asked, voice suddenly thick with worry.

Sanji's mind wandered back to the night before. It had been kind of embarrassing, on second thought, but he knew he'd done the right thing by coming clean with Zoro.

"I told him everything… About Bellamy. He was at the club, last night, you know?" Sanji bit his lipring and stopped halfway through loading the washing machine.

"Are you fucking kidding me? That asshole was there?" Nami practically roared, Sanji knew she'd have wanted to destroy his ass.

"Yeah, I…" Sanji went quiet, unable to continue what he had started telling Nami. Everything was coming back again, Bellamy's grimy hands on him, the stench of his breath, the fact that he was completely paralyzed and was just a doll at that fucker's mercy.

It was so fucked up. So unbearable.

"What did he do? Did he hurt you?" Nami pressed "Do you need me to swing by?"

Sanji let out a small groan, grabbing the phone and screwing his eyes shut. Why did his mind have to do this to him? He thought he was fine, especially after talking to Zoro, but it just had to fuck with him some more.

"I'm supposed to go to work, Nami…" Sanji sighed.

"I'm really close to your place, because I had to grab some groceries. I can just stay until you're all ready to go?"

Sanji furrowed his eyebrows at Nami's words. Why was she shopping for groceries near his house?

"How close are you?" he asked, suspicious.

The intercom rang.

"Are you serious?!" Sanji exclaimed, and Nami let out a laugh.

Sanji truly had no more words to describe how amazing Nami was, he was a hundred percent sure she'd gone shopping nearby on purpose, in hopes of catching him home. He walked over to the door to press the intercom button that let her into the building, then opened the door of his house.

"Do I need to make coffee, or…?" Sanji asked, since they were still on the phone.

"No, you gotta get ready, I'll do that!"

Sanji could actually hear her voice resonate through the stairwell, too, and couldn't help but laugh to himself and shake his head.

Nami had never been at Sanji's house. She had been at Baratie a couple times, she knew that Sanji and Zeff lived right above the family restaurant, but she'd never visited the place. Sanji never really invited anyone over, mostly because he was actually barely there, he went out to clubs, to Zoro's, to gigs, to Franky's and to work.

"Where do I go?" Nami asked through the phone, which made Sanji laugh again "I can hear you're pretty close…"

"Yeah, I am," Sanji smirked to himself "first floor, I'm right out the door."

He heard a beep, the sound of the call ending, and just a few moments after he saw Nami grinning at him from the stairs as she quickly climbed them, her bag of groceries held firmly in her hand.

"I can't believe you actually came here, what the hell?" Sanji laughed and shook his head, before pushing his phone down the pocket of his jeans.

He was suddenly feeling somewhat nervous about having Nami in his home, it was silly but he couldn't help it. He smiled at her once she was in front of him, he attempted to step aside in order to let her in but instead she left the bag on the floor and wrapped her arms tightly around him. Sanji was stupidly taken aback by the gesture, it was now pretty normal for him to embrace Nami, but his nerves were truly playing some number on him.

"I needed to see you!" she explained simply, before she could pull back to look at Sanji in the eyes again "Your eyes look different…" Nami smirked, and she picked the bag up again without breaking eye contact with Sanji.

Sanji furrowed his eyebrows and instinctively touched his right eyelid with his fingertips "What? Why?"

Nami bursted out in a crystalline laugh "I meant your gaze, you dummy." she said before jerking her chin in the direction of the house "May I?"

Sanji blinked, still not understanding what she was on about, but stepped aside nonetheless. "Yeah, of course," he waited for Nami to get inside before shutting the door behind her. "What are you talking about?"

Nami bounced on the balls of her feet as she scanned her surroundings "You know what…" Nami raised an eyebrow as she looked back at Sanji "You're finally happy."

Was that so obvious? Did he actually look that much different from the usual? Sanji worried his lower lip between his teeth, a smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth as he stared briefly at the floor. He was. He was tremendously happy, Sanji could feel his joy as if it was something he could touch with his hands.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Sanji shrugged a shoulder as he snatched the plastic bag from Nami's hand and walked over to the kitchen to set it on one of the chairs by the table.

"Yeah, right!" Nami snorted and followed right behind him "I said I was gonna make coffee, so you can get ready for work." she reminded him as she watched him grab the coffee powder from a cabinet.

"You're right." Sanji said as he pushed the canister closer to Nami.

By that point he wasn't feeling like going to work anymore, he would have just wanted to stay in the kitchen with Nami and the comfort of a hot mug of coffee between his hands.

"Why aren't you telling me everything?!" Nami growled all of a sudden, making the blond flinch in surprise.

Sanji avoided her gaze, he didn't want to talk about Bellamy, but Nami was never going to leave him alone. She wanted to know what had happened, and Sanji was very much sure that she would have had gladly helped Zoro kill the bastard, if she had been around too.

"What did that bastard do to you?" Nami went on, then moved her hand over Sanji's wrist to squeeze it gently.

Sanji was glaring down at the clean, cold surface of the counter. He had begun to wonder if one day he was going to forget about Bellamy's breath against his skin, the way in which his hands fondled his thighs, how his fingers wrapped tightly around his throat, and how his own muscles had become as hard as stone, paralyzing him. He wondered if one day those memories would just fade to mere fragments of history, if they were ever going to stop being as vivid as if he was still living them.

"I froze…" Sanji breathed out.

Nami's eyebrows twitched before furrowing, and the hold on Sanji's wrist tightened lightly. "What do you mean?"

"He could have–" the words got stuck in his throat. He couldn't dare saying what he wanted to say, it was too much even just thinking about it. "I couldn't fight him off, even if I wanted to."

"What…?" Nami's voice was almost a whisper, a frightened one.

Silence fell upon the room, as none of them was able to say anything. Sanji didn't have to specify anything, he could tell Nami already had a clear picture in her head.

He really needed to go and take that shower. He felt filthy, just thinking about it all over again.

"That's why Ace and Smoker had to go to the police station, isn't it?" Nami spoke at last, making Sanji shudder "And why Zoro's nose was bruised."

Sanji didn't say anything, he just let his eyes fall shut and nodded.

"I hope he bashed his fucking head in." Nami sneered.

"Kind of…" Sanji spoke softly, his eyes finally setting back on Nami. She looked beyond furious, with her tightened jaw and her flared nostrils. He didn't think he'd ever saw her like that.

"I'd have helped him, if I'd known…" Nami went on, Sanji thought he could see smoke coming out of her nose, for a moment.

"You guys don't need to murder anyone, for me." Sanji sighed, all of a sudden, "I was already scared that Zoro would have really killed him."

"Well, we love you, we don't want perverts to do awful things to you. We'd do anything to protect you!" Nami insisted, her voice was borderline offended, now.

"You ain't gonna protect anyone if you're in fucking jail." Sanji bursted, at last.

Nami opened her mouth and closed it right after. Sanji shook his head and ran a hand through his hair, fingers combing through dirty strands.

"We went to the police this morning, for our deposition," Sanji began, tongue flicking across his lower lip "it was awful, even if I tried to look unbothered for Zoro. He was freaking out, too. This kinda shit can fuck up your whole life, and I just found him again..." then he tilted his head slightly "Just like I found such a strong friendship with you. I can't lose you both, it would kill me."

Nami didn't say anything. She didn't retort, didn't try to convince him otherwise just out of stubbornness. She just stepped ahead, and once more enveloped Sanji in a tight and warm embrace.

"I'll make that damn coffee, now… Just go get ready for work." Nami spoke softly before pecking Sanji's cheek.

That was her way of ending the discussion. She didn't need to push and prod any longer, and she knew that eventually Sanji would have spoken about this again. When he was ready, when things would hurt much less.

Sanji gave her a weak, somewhat tired smile and nodded slowly "I'll have mine black."

"Like your metal, your soul or like Zoro's pubes?" Nami said with the same soft tone from before.

Sanji's eyes widened, and didn't really know how to reply to that question. Nami laughed really hard at his expression, and the blond shook his head, laughing but still unable to fully believe what she'd just said.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Sanji asked, his ears and cheekbones almost pulsating with the amount of blood rushing through them.

"I guess I just wanted to know if the carpet matches the curtains or not?" Nami went on, really not making it any better.

"Oh my fucking God, Nami!" Sanji groaned, as the girl was still in hysterics "I could ask you the same about Vivi, but I won't!" he raised his hands.

"Don't you dare!" Nami said, pointing a threatening finger at him "But I guess you could, yeah." she added with a tilt of her head.

"I'm done with you." Sanji laughed, covering his eyes.

Nami laughed too, and then finally got to make coffee. Sanji went back to the bathroom, where he had left everything set before Nami called. Only he was still laughing, and he didn't stop even while he was inside the shower.

When Sanji was finally all ready for work, hair freshly blow dried, face moisturized, and a warm, almost baggy sweater was hugging his torso, he made his way back into the kitchen where Nami was checking her phone as she sipped on her own coffee.

"Sorry I took longer than expected." Sanji said as he sat across from her and poured the remaining coffee into his own mug.

"That's alright," Nami said as she looked up from the screen to smile at him "you were probably thinking about what you did last night." she said innocently, before taking a long sip of coffee.

Sanji choked on the hot beverage, and proceeded to suffocate, cough and spit for the next five minutes.

"Sorry pal, I'm on a roll." Nami laughed as she clapped on his back to help him breathe again.

"F-fuck… Off…" Sanji said as he coughed some more, the back of his hand moving up to wipe off his teary eyes.

Nami kept laughing, and her hand just rubbed Sanji's back instead of patting on it "I'm truly sorry!"

"You witch." Sanji shook his head, he could still feel the coffee burning in its way up his nose, but he had managed to stop choking.

Nami grinned at the supposed epithet, and gave a quick nod "That I am, yep."

"We just talked… And made out. A lot." Sanji muttered into his coffee, eyes very much avoiding Nami's. He didn't know he was blushing, and only blamed the burning feeling of his face on the fit of cough from a few moments before.

"No way…" Nami gasped. "You didn't…?"

Sanji still didn't look at her, but he shook his head.

"Oh my goodness…" Nami gasped again.

Sanji groaned "Quit sounding so shocked!" he finally half glared at her.

"But I can't help it! I'm just–" Nami blinked, then shrugged as she tried to find the right words to explain herself "I thought you would– you know."

Sanji screwed his eyes shut "I thought so, too… But it's not as easy as it sounds."

Nami's eyebrows drew together, and she quickly placed her hand over Sanji's "That's alright! You'll get over this…"

Sanji's eyes dropped to Nami's hand, then traveled up to her concerned eyes. He didn't like being pitied, not being tiptoed around, but he knew she wasn't that kind of person, so he kept the snarky remarks buried in the back of his throat.

"It fucking sucks," Sanji sighed "I mean, I knew I was fucked up, but not to this point." he confessed.

He had to admit that not bottling everything up was truly a good feeling. He was glad he was fighting against it.

"Zoro will patch you up." Nami grinned and gave Sanji's hand an affectionate squeeze.

"I guess…" Sanji smiled sheepish. This time he was aware of the blood rushing to his cheeks and ears "He's taking me out to dinner, tomorrow," Sanji suddenly said, terror quickly taking over as he stared at Nami "What the fuck... How does a date work?" he asked, panicked.

Nami scrunched up her face, clearly taken aback from the sudden change in behavior and topic. She tried to say something, but only a couple strangled sounds came out at first.

"W-what?" she blinked "I… Just… Go out to dinner, have a good time. You've been out with Zoro, plenty of times!" Nami shrugged.

"Yeah but… Not as boyfriends?" Sanji whined "This is gonna be awkward, I know it will be!" he said as he rested his forehead against his arm on the table, hiding his face.

Boyfriends. That word had rolled off of his tongue pretty easily, and sounded as good as it tasted, no matter how weird it felt.

"Jesus, quit being so dramatic!" Nami groaned, prodding at his head "You're still Zoro and Sanji, only you finally realized that you guys are in love." she paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts, then added "You already pretty much acted like a couple, so…"

Sanji suddenly straightened back up to stare horrified at Nami and yell "What?!" in an unnaturally high pitch.

"You heard me the first time." Nami deadpanned.

"We didn't… We never..." Sanji started stammering.

"You boys are so dense, and make such a big fucking deal out of everything." Nami shook her head and rolled her eyes, before finishing off her coffee.

"What?!" was all Sanji could manage to say… Again.

What was going on? What was Nami talking about?

"I'm so blessed to be a lesbian." Nami sighed as she stood up and washed her empty mug before putting it into the dish rack.

Sanji just kept staring at Nami, completely and utterly dumbfounded. He had known for a while that everyone but him had always known about Zoro being in love with him, but what Nami had just said was brand new information.

How? When? But more precisely… What the fuck? Did they really sound and act constantly like a couple? Even before being officially together?

"C'mon, finish your coffee, you're late for work." Nami scolded him in her best mom voice.

"I am?!" Sanji shrieked and checked the time. He was indeed "Fuck!"

He gobbled down the rest of the coffee, probably scalding his tongue and esophagus in the process, but he didn't care.

Nami rolled her eyes at the grimaces and cries of pain that came out of Sanji, then took the empty mug from his hands to wash that as well.

Sanji went to grab his coat, and also went back to the bathroom where he was sure he had left his cellphone. He really hoped the battery wasn't going to die on him, because he had definitely forgotten to charge it the night before.

Suddenly a cluster of thoughts pushed their way through Sanji's brain, his heart racing in his chest for no particular reason, or very many reasons all at once. He stared at the locked, black screen of his phone and wondered if Zoro had texted or called him.

Why would he, though? Zoro perfectly knew that Sanji had to go to work, and Sanji knew that Zoro was going to work out really hard, since he hadn't in a while. They were both going to be busy, there was no time for that kind of things. Before everything happened, they could also go for a day or two without hearing from one another... So why should it be different, now?

Sanji glanced over at the kitchen, where Nami was resting back against the counter with her phone in her hand, and looking very absorbed in whatever she was looking at. She said that nothing had changed, that they were still the same Zoro and Sanji, but that wasn't entirely true. They weren't the same anymore, especially not Sanji.

Being in a relationship was completely new territory for both of them, of course, but to Sanji it was something absurd. He had always been scared of relationships, of getting too close to someone just to lose them shortly afterwards. Love had never been his thing, but he had experienced first hand what it felt like to try and push Zoro away, to brush his own feelings off.

Then again, he had to think about how Zeff had told him that he had never regretted loving his mother, even if it hurt when he lost her. Sanji couldn't just live in fear of losing Zoro, he needed to enjoy the time that life had given them together. Things don't always have to end badly, they don't even always need to end, period, and Sanji needed to focus on that.

"Sanji, are you alright, babe?" Nami called out from the kitchen.

Sanji lifted his eyes to meet Nami, she was frowning at him, probably asking herself why he was just standing there like an idiot. "Yeah, I…" he didn't really know what to say.

Nami walked over to him, slipping her cellphone into the pocket of her pants and raising an eyebrow as she looked at Sanji's phone "Did something happen?"

Sanji's gaze wandered from his own phone to Nami's eyes, and he just shook his head "I'd just sound like a broken fucking record."

"C'mon, spill it. I don't care if I heard it before." Nami folded her arms across her breasts, and Sanji couldn't help but look down at them as they were squished together. "My eyes are up here, as always." she added, obviously noticing.

"I really…" Sanji sighed "Can't help looking at them. I'm so sorry." he laughed nervously, then tightened the grip on his cellphone "I just… Really need to get used to this. To all this. Being with Zoro… Not being deadly scared of losing him again, like… For whatever reason."

"You'll make it, I know you will!" Nami nodded "You just need to relax. Go with the flow. Don't overthink this, it's completely useless and will only give you anxiety!"

"It's very fucking hard, not to obsess over this." Sanji groaned, his free hand going to run through his hair in frustration "I'm already thinking that I wish Zoro would have texted me, just to let me know he's thinking about me, you know? As if… I'm scared he'll just stop loving me, and he'll leave me and–"

"Sanji! Stop it!" Nami grabbed him by the shoulders, her eyes going wide "Zoro loves you more than you can possibly think, alright? He's loved you for so many years, and right now he's probably thinking the same thing, because you're two fucking idiots."

Sanji's eyelids fell shut, and he let his head drop. Nami was right, he knew she was. Convincing the nasty voices in his head… Well, that was a whole different story.

"You're freaking out because of what happened, because you really nearly lost him forever," Nami went on, chucking Sanji under his chin "but you didn't. It turned out fine. It's still fresh, I know... But you'll see him again soon, right? And you can text him yourself, you stupid asshole."

Sanji glared at her, no matter how right she was "Why are you being so rude?"

"That's the only language you know, and the only way to get this through that thick skull of yours." Nami said before flicking his forehead.

"Ow! Alright, alright!" Sanji growled as he rubbed his forehead. "And yes, he should be popping by, later…" he muttered.

Nami let out a strangled groan "Then why are you being so dramatic?"

"Because!" Sanji cried out "It doesn't matter, my head still fucks with me!"

Nami let out a drawn out sigh and took Sanji's head in her hands "I know, you're right… I'm sorry I yelled at you."

Sanji rolled his eyes and shrugged "It's alright…"

"I think Zeff will yell at you, too." Nami grimaced.

Sanji had completely forgot about going to work. Again.

"Oh shit! He will!" Sanji pointed at the groceries that Nami had left in the kitchen "C'mon, c'mon, we gotta move!" then picked up the bag with his uniform, from the rack he always kept it on.

Nami let go of him and quickly shrugged on her coat "Okay, okay! I'm on it!" she said as she went to pick up her stuff before following Sanji out of the apartment.

They both rushed downstairs and into the streets, the freezing cold wind suddenly slapping them in their faces, and as Nami tightened the coat around her lean figure, Sanji glanced at her in concern.

"Did you come here by car?" he asked, squeezing his eyes at the harsh gusts of wind.

"Yes, yes, don't worry!" Nami grinned. "Did you ever check your phone?" she asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"Uh... No." Sanji bit his lipring, he still wasn't sure he wanted to know if Zoro had tried to reach out or not.

Nami rolled her eyes, but her grin didn't falter "Go on, or your father will kill you. I'll text you when I'll be home, so you'll have to check your phone!"

Sanji groaned, but then laughed right away "Alright, I will…"

Nami laughed herself, then turned around to make her way to her car.

"Nami!" Sanji called out, making her turn again "Thank you… For everything."

Nami grinned again, then in her best John Stamos voice she gave him a thumbs up and said "I'm there for you, babe!"

Sanji laughed and shook his head, then they went their separate ways.

Sanji's heart was much lighter, and there was a warmth inside him that made him forget about the cold weather. He walked to the backdoor of the restaurant, where the staff usually entered the building from.

What he didn't quite expect to find both Patty and Carne leaning against the wall, just outside the door, on a cigarette break.

"Why aren't you two assholes inside, working?" Sanji arched an eyebrow, trying to bite back a smirk.

The two men weren't startled, just surprised to see him standing there.

"The fuck are you doing here, Squirt?" Patty said as he furrowed his eyebrows at him, tapping ashes off of the tip of his cigarette.

"Weren't you finally fired?" Carne's eyebrow quirked, an amused smirk playing on his lips.

"You'd like that, huh? I'm still your superior, you dumbass." Sanji snorted as he adjusted the strap of the bag he was carrying on his shoulder.

"Superior?" Carne guffawed "Please!"

"You fucking useless idiots!" Zeff suddenly thundered as he appeared on the threshold, making everyone recoil in fear. "Quit slacking off, get back into the kitchen!"

"Yes, chef!" Carne nearly yelled.

"Sure, chef!" Patty echoed.

Both cooks got rid of the cigarettes and quickly made their way back inside. Sanji watched them go, a soft smile tugging at the corners of his lips. It may not have been the perfect job, and he might not have lived the perfect childhood and teenage years in there… But the Baratie was still his home. Those assholes were still part of his family, somehow.

"You shitty Eggplant, I should beat the crap out of you for making me worry so much!" Zeff growled, startling Sanji again.

"Shit! You damn geezer, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" Sanji snarled, a hand pressed against his hammering heart.

"Good!" Zeff growled "So you known how I felt this morning!"

"Oh my God!" Sanji rolled his eyes "Are we still talking about that? I already apologized!"

"Whatever! You scared the crap out of me." Zeff muttered, glaring daggers at his son.

"I won't say sorry again! I already did!" Sanji shrugged.

Zeff didn't say anything in return, he just stared at his son with a soft expression that Sanji couldn't quite make out. He didn't really like that, he disliked being stared at unless he was being provocative and wanted to actually be checked out... But that was his father, and Sanji certainly wasn't showing off, nor performing.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Sanji nearly screeched out, his eyes widening at the odd situation.

"You actually look like you got some sleep," was the first thing that came out of Zeff's mouth, preventing Sanji from going on about how weird that whole moment was. "If you're happy, I'm alright with the scare you gave me in the morning."

Sanji couldn't really find the right thing to say. He couldn't even find the right thing to think, he was too stunned to. He should probably get used to this side of Zeff that he never got a chance to see when he was younger, yet in the back of his head he knew that his father used to be a very different man. Someone loving, someone that was still strict, especially on the workplace, but still showed a soft and human side.

Sanji did remember that his mother was an actual ray of sunshine, so there had to be some light shining from Zeff to have been married to her. After the woman's passing, Zeff's light had switched off completely, and Sanji had forgotten about it. Now he was so used to the dark, that the slightest spark filtering through would hurt Sanji's eyes.

"Alright…" was all Sanji could manage to mutter out, a slight blush pinking up his cheekbones as he looked down at the concrete.

Damn, he needed a smoke.

"So, uh... How was the show?" Zeff went on.

Sanji could no longer believe what he was listening to. His head slowly rose to look up at his father and his obviously uneasy expression. Zeff was pushing past his comfort zone, and Sanji would have really appreciated the effort, if it weren't for the continuous shockers.

"It was good," Sanji nodded "we did well. And the audience responded well."

That was such a crap review of what had happened the night before, but there really was no other way for Sanji to talk about it. He saw Zeff nod, and then parting his lips to speak again, so Sanji decided to precede him.

"Please, please… Don't ask embarrassing questions about Zoro, alright? We're fine, now. We're together, and there isn't any other awkward thing to talk about. You have a very queer son, so deal with it." Sanji vomited every word, struggling to keep his voice low enough to be heard only by his father, his eyes frantically scanning their surroundings to check for eavesdroppers.

Apparently it was Zeff's turn to appear absolutely stunned, as he stared at his son with comically wide eyes and a slightly slacked jaw. Sanji heaved out a relieved breath, he had never properly come out to his father, and he certainly didn't need to, since Zeff wasn't daft, but it did feel good to get it out of his system.

What Sanji hadn't really been prepared for was the sonorous and hearty laugh that suddenly bubbled out of his father. The young man frowned at Zeff, wondering if he'd completely shattered his sanity with a single phrase.

"Are you alright?" Sanji asked, eyebrows pulled impossibly close together as he watched his father piss himself laughing.

"Y-you… You're unbelievable." Zeff shook his head and wiped at his eyes and face with his apron "You really think I never knew you liked boys? Or… I never noticed what was up with you and Zoro?" he said, clearing his throat as he tried to stop laughing like a mad man.

Sanji's face was redder than ever. He really wished he could have disappeared in that moment. That was truly awkward.

"What the fuck? N-nothing has ever… We never…" Sanji began to fumble with words, he couldn't even speak properly anymore. That conversation had quickly turned into a nightmare. He wished Zeff would have been the embarrassed one.

"Oh but the way you've always spoken about him, and the slight changes in your voice and expressions," a knowing smirk pulled at Zeff's lips "how much you've suffered when you thought you'd lost him forever. That speaks volumes."

"Oh God, dad. Don't be embarrassing!" Sanji cried out, he really didn't want to listen to one more word. "I'm already late for my shift!"

Sanji stormed past his father, not even daring to look back as he sped towards the staff toilet to change into his uniform.

"Yes, you're late!" Zeff echoed behind him, and Sanji tried to ignore the laugh that followed.

He was starting to wonder if one could actually die of embarrassment, because he had felt like that for way too many times in one day. He didn't know if his face could take that much heat, and if his chest was going to be able to hold his hammering heart for much longer.

–

The burning sensation of muscles straining and working, the sweat streaking his face and beading his chest and abdomen, the blood rushing through his veins and pooling into his cheeks and forehead. Zoro loved every single sensation that working out brought him, it cleared his head and cleansed his spirit like nothing else could.

Especially when all he could think of was Sanji's mouth and body being all over him. Not even a cold shower could help in that moment, only lifting an inhumanly heavy weight could do the trick. Barely.

Fuck, why was it so hard to push aside the thought of making love to Sanji?

Hard.

Zoro rolled his eyes as he started lifting the gigantic weights attached to the barbell, his knees bucked just slightly and his arms shook for a couple moments as he adjusted to the strain and heaviness. His mind was wiped again, all he could focus on was the struggle his body went through not to give out and be crushed under the barbell.

He'd spent almost three hours at the dojo, training in the most dramatic ways, just to stop obsessing over everything that had happened in the span of a few hours.

The reunion with Sanji, the confession in the dead of the night, the wonders of sleeping with Sanji curled around him after such a long time. The making out, the intoxicating feeling of Sanji's lips and tongue on his own, the touch of his hands and the warmth of his skin.

Everything was making his head spin, overloading his brain and chest with an amount of feelings that he was barely capable of containing. Even just thinking about simply having breakfast with his family, as Sanji cooked for them again, was taking its toll on Zoro's emotions. It was so frustrating.

He wasn't exactly complaining about everything that had happened, all the contrary, of course, he was just hating how his entire being was poorly handling everything. Zoro was such a collected, stern and quiet person, yet after all this time he still couldn't believe what Sanji could turn him into. He wanted to take control of the way he felt, again, but he just couldn't.

Zoro let the monstrous barbell fall to the floor again, and the mirror standing before him rattled while he bent over, hands on his knees as he tried to even out his painfully ragged breath. He ungracefully dropped to sit back on the floor, still trying to catch his breath, and with one last thud he finished lying down onto the wooden floor.

He stared up at the ceiling, he didn't really look at it, as his brain burst into another frantic swarm of thoughts. Zoro gave up trying to fight it, he just let himself drown in it.

He was so nervous about going on a date with Sanji, he wasn't the sentimental nor romantic type, and he had never been on anything that could even resemble a date. On the other hand, Zoro knew that Sanji wasn't that type of person either, maybe once, when he'd been younger and still tried to woo the ladies. Sanji probably had no clue on how to handle a date, either. That was the only reassuring thing he could think of.

Or maybe not.

Zoro thought Sanji deserved to be treated like a prince, after everything he'd gone through. Yes, even if Zoro had gone through hell himself, because of Sanji, but he'd never been treated in any of the horrific, dehumanizing ways that Sanji had been. Zoro wanted to spoil Sanji, make him feel loved for the person he was, and not for the body and naughty skills he possessed.

Zoro really wanted Sanji to be happy, but he was so damn nervous to mess everything up. What if the date turned out to be a disaster? Maybe Sanji wouldn't have cared, or maybe he'd think again that he wasn't worth any sort of effort because of how easy he was. No, Zoro couldn't allow that, he definitely needed to come up with the perfect date.

But what could be the perfect date? Overdoing things, going too far and trying too hard could just result into the opposite of being good. Something too fabricated could have made things awkward, it could have felt unnatural and generally too much. Zoro didn't have that much time to think, and the sense of being inadequate was gnawing at him.

His heart was pulsating into his ears, almost impairing his hearing, his head felt kind of light. Zoro let his eyelids fall shut as he tried to relax as much as he could. He'd definitely pushed himself too far with the training and he was now paying the consequences.

Only a few moments after his phone went off, it was sitting on a wooden bench, along with an half empty bottle of water and a towel. Zoro groaned, eyes still shut.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" he muttered as he slowly sat up and scooted over to the bench, not even bothering to stand back up on his feet.

He picked up the phone and stared at Sabo's name flashing on the screen. That was a call he wasn't expecting. Zoro furrowed his eyebrows, swiped right and pressed the speaker button.

"I thought you died, or something." Zoro said before giving his cousin a chance to speak.

"Not yet, I'm sorry to disappoint."

Zoro rolled his eyes and dropped back to lay on the floor, not even caring about slamming the back of his head into the parquet.

"Where the fuck have you been?" Zoro asked, leaving the phone on the floor, next to his head and going back to shutting his eyes.

"Uh… Barto's bedroom, mostly." came Sabo's not so hesitant reply.

"Fucking hell…" Zoro breathed out "You've been screwing him for how many hours, now?"

"Quite some time," Sabo sniggered "why? That a problem?"

He wasn't really jealous, he had Sanji now, the love of his life, but at the same time he couldn't really deny the fact that even if it was annoying. Bartolomeo's huge crush on him was flattering as hell.

"Gimme a break…" Zoro snorted, and listened to Sabo laughing next to his head "Where are you, now?"

"I'm in his backyard, he's taking a shower." Sabo paused, and Zoro could almost see his wolfish grin spreading across his lips after puffing on a cigarette "Hell knows he needed one. I do too, actually."

Zoro growled "Jeez, it's like speaking to Sanji from when he still slept around like mad."

The words spilled from him with ease, absentmindedly. He wasn't even really putting much thought into them. Sanji was with him, now. It was a fact, even if it still took some getting used to.

"Oh man!" Sabo laughed again "Look, this is exactly why I called you! Apart from, you know… Letting you know that I didn't die in a ditch or something."

Zoro's cheek flushed automatically "Why?" he asked, even if he knew he was going to be bombarded with questions about the night before.

"I wanted to know how everything went, of course!" Sabo huffed, as if he was surprised about having to elaborate his question.

Zoro heaved a drawn out sigh "We didn't have sex, if that's what you're asking."

"God, Zoro," Sabo groaned "why didn't you? It would have been the perfect time! Reunion sex is the best sex!"

Zoro furrowed his eyebrows at the peculiar choice of words, since he knew very well that Sabo wasn't the long lasting relations kind of guy. "Why? You ever reunited with someone and had sex with them to celebrate?"

"Wow there, salty, no need to call me out like that!" Sabo huffed "But imagine how perfect it would have been!"

Zoro had thought about it already, he had imagined it in very different versions and with multiple storylines, endings and whatever. Sabo's input wasn't needed nor necessary. He had already fantasized about he and Sanji tumbling into his bed, finally giving in to their instincts, but how could he possibly ignore Sanji's fears and trauma? He couldn't think about his own pleasure alone, he never did.

"Yeah, in a perfect world where bad things don't happen, maybe it would have happened last night." Zoro said firmly, the back of his thumb rubbing the sweat off of his forehead, and underneath his nose. "It'll happen…"

There was a small "Oh…" coming from the other side of the phone, and then a few moments of silence followed.

"Is…" Sabo said, tentatively. Zoro could tell he was holding back from speaking.

"It's complicated… Shit happened, and Sanji wouldn't want me to tell anyone. If he wants, he'll tell you himself." Zoro said, helping Sabo out.

"Yeah, of course…"

"But I can tell you that last night was just insane. There was a piece of shit who tried to–" the words died in Zoro's throat. How does one even begin to explain something so bad and so recent?

"Did you smash his skull?" Sabo asked.

Zoro's eyebrows shot up in surprise, and he looked over at his cellphone. How had everything clicked so quickly for Sabo?

"Thought I'd killed him, actually… Ace and Smoker had to physically hold me back." Zoro replied, his tone had dropped lower. "I… Just..." he furrowed his eyebrows, trying to focus. He didn't even remember what he did to the bastard, because he was just beating him on autopilot.

"You blacked out? Like… Not passing out, you just kinda disassociated?" Sabo suggested.

Zoro licked his lips "Yeah… I guess. All I remember is the sound that my fists made against his skin and bones, and the smell of blood."

"He deserved it."

"He did." Zoro confirmed, then let his eyes fall shut.

"I'm sorry…"

"For what?" Zoro opened his eyes again.

"Not being there, helping you. And sorry for Sanji, and everything he had to endure."

Zoro felt a tug to his chest, and a shaky sigh left his lips "I am, too."

Sabo hummed in response. They stayed quiet for a while. Zoro stared up at the ceiling, and let his mind fill up with nothing but darkness. He didn't like it, but he was being completely swallowed by it and couldn't help it.

"You still there, cousin?"

"Y-yeah…" Zoro replied, a couple too many seconds later.

He needed to push all that away, so he sucked in a deep breath, sat up, grabbed the towel and dried the sweat off. He looked down at his cellphone with a raised eyebrow as an idea formed into his head – finally something that didn't have to do with pain.

"Do you know anything about… Dates?" Zoro asked, and felt heat creeping up on his face.

God, why was all of this so damn embarrassing?

"Dates as in…" Sabo started, he sounded way too confused, and Zoro was already regretting his question "Uuh… Going out with someone?"

"Yeah, you fucking idiot. A fucking date." Zoro grumbled, already getting butthurt over the way Sabo was probably going to tease him.

"What… You've never gone on one?" Sabo asked, a hint of surprise in his voice.

"Why, you have?" Zoro retorted immediately, glaring down at his phone as if he was glaring directly at his cousin.

"Well, yeah? I mean… Nothing serious, or that brought a consistent relationship in my life, but... I have taken girls and guys out."

Zoro rolled his eyes. Even Sabo had gone on a date before him, he was so pathetic.

"Well, I haven't." Zoro grunted "And I promised Sanji I'd take him out on one, because he deserves it."

And in that moment… He heard a horrifying sound.

Sabo was… Pissing himself. Laughing.

Zoro turned the deepest and brightest shade of red, and just grabbed his phone and angrily ended the call. It took all of his self control to not violently fling his phone into the wall, but he managed not to.

"Fucking asshole!" Zoro barked out, his face felt like he had been standing too close to a bonfire. He stood up, kicked the bench and broke off one of its legs. He was going to have to fix it, or buy a new one, but he didn't give a damn.

The phone went off again in his hand, and he refused Sabo's attempt to laugh at him again. He didn't have time for that, and decided it would have been better to just tidy up the room and take a well needed shower. He didn't have any more time to be made fun of.

–

Two and a half hours later, Zoro was clean and his mind calm, the only thing that was wrong with him was his growling stomach, and he knew exactly what was going to solve that. Zoro looked up at the clock mounted on the wall of the locker room, and realized that he had definitely stayed at the dojo longer than he'd thought.

It was 9:45, people must have thought he'd died or something.

"Shit!" he groaned out loud as he grabbed his phone and found five missed calls and definitely too many WhatsApp messages. "Shit, shit!" he continued.

There were two calls from Mihawk, two from Shanks and one from Luffy. He wondered if they'd thought about heading to the dojo to find him, he hoped none of them had left the house for that.

He checked the messages, and found messages from Shanks, Luffy, Ace, Sabo and Sanji.

He felt a fluttering in his stomach, upon reading Sanji's name, and a smile curled his lips despite the sense of anxiety that finding all those missed calls and messages had infused him with.

The messages from Shanks, Luffy and Ace were all on the same note, they were a perfect mix of insults and questions on his whereabouts. He sucked in a deep breath and got to calling Luffy, because he knew that his parents would have probably bitten his head off through the phone.

"Zoro! Thank goodness!" Luffy let out a big relieved breath, and then Zoro furrowed his brows when he heard Shanks yelling at him from somewhere in Luffy's proximity "Dad! Don't yell!"

Zoro had to squeeze his eyes shut and move the phone away from his ear, because obviously Luffy had shouted into the microphone.

"So, where are you?! I told them that you were probably with Sanji, but they still got worried sick!" Zoro heard him say when he put him on speaker.

"Yeah, I'm sorry… I was training, then I took a shower and lost track of time." Zoro rubbed the back of his neck, his fingers could feel that his hair was still partially wet.

"That's alright! I'm glad you're fine, Zoro!" Luffy was grinning, Zoro knew he was, he could hear it in his voice.

"Yeah, look… I'll grab a bite at the Baratie, then I'll be home." Zoro said, trying to sound as casual as possible.

"He's eating at his boyfriend's!" Luffy shouted, this time having the decency to move the phone away and not perforate Zoro's eardrum.

"Luffy!" Zoro cried out.

"What? Did I say something wrong?"

Zoro bit his bottom lip and stared down at a spot on the floor. It was the truth, now, Luffy wasn't making fun of him or anything. Sanji was his boyfriend.

"No… No, you didn't. I'll just see you later. Bye." Zoro quickly dismissed Luffy, and hung up before he had the chance to speak.

Damn, this day was just proving to be absurdly harder and harder to navigate. He needed to calm the fuck down.

He went to his chat with Sabo, and found several messages where he just tried to apologize to him, tell him to call him back and then a voice note. Zoro didn't really feel like listening to it, but he still reluctantly hit play.

"Hey, I'm truly sorry for laughing, alright? I'm a stupid idiot. What you said wasn't funny at all, you're a good man who wants to treat his man right, and I laughed. I'm so sorry… Okay? Just don't think too much about the date, yeah? Just take him someplace nice to eat, then be natural… Speak to him like you usually do, joke around, be sure he has a good time. I know it sounds hard, right now, but I'm sure you can do it!"

Zoro listened to Sabo's slightly distorted voice as it reverberated through the locker room, and rested back against the wall behind him. He nervously played with the jewel on his tongue, tugging at it with his teeth and rubbing it against his palate. After the thoroughly humiliating moment that Sabo had put him through, he really appreciated the apology and the advice, so he decided to record a voice note of his own.

"Look, man… It's alright. I'm way too sensitive lately, and it's mostly 'cause this is so new and so…" he paused, grimacing as he tried to find the right words to express what he truly felt inside "It's just, that so much happened all in the span of a day and a half, it's a fuckload to process. But I'll be back to normal soon, I hope. Thanks for the advice, by the way. I hope it won't become awkward, it's all I'm worried about."

Zoro let go of the recording button, and listened back to what he had said, cringing slightly at the sound of his own voice. He didn't play the entire thing, and just pressed pause and exited the chat with Sabo to check what Sanji had written.

"hey marimo, dont forget that u cannot live on water and weight lifting only. come eat something before ur stupid ass passes out"

Zoro smirked and rolled his eyes, and quickly typed up his reply as he stood up to put on his coat and finally leave the dojo.

"be there in a few minutes, u better have something good for me."

He hit the send button without putting too much thought in his wording choice, and got ready to close up the place. It was only when he was outside of the dojo, that he picked up his phone again to read Sanji's answer, and wanted to die.

"my ass cannot be considered nourishment either"

For once in his life, Zoro thought that he really could perfectly understand how on earth it was possible for manga and anime characters to get random nosebleeds, because in that moment his blood pressure had skyrocketed in a matter of seconds, and he needed a good minute to recover from that.

"I fucking hate him." Zoro muttered to himself, shaking his head as he didn't reply and just got to walking towards the Baratie.

–

Once he arrived at the back door of the restaurant, he found Patty hanging outside for a smoke. Did he ever work? Zoro was starting to seriously doubt that.

"Hey! It's been one hell of a long while since I've seen your mug around!" the cook croaked as soon as Zoro showed up in his field of view.

"Yeah, I know…" Zoro nodded, feeling slightly awkward.

He didn't really know what else to say, so he just stood there with his hands stuffed in his pockets and duffel bag hanging from his side. Zoro had had his quite obvious reasons for not visiting the Baratie anymore, he was just as surprised to be there again as Patty was to see him.

"Sanji was waiting for you, he was just finishing something in the kitchen," Patty said as he took one last drag of cigarette, and threw it on the concrete "I'll go tell him you're here. He's been really fucking twitchy and annoying, while waiting." he stepped on the burnt out cigarette and disappeared inside, leaving a very flabbergasted Zoro behind.

Well, that had been quick and unexpected. At least it had been painless, that was definitely positive.

There was some yelling and cursing coming from inside the kitchen, and Zoro couldn't help but smirk to himself, because that was just so familiar that he had missed it. The staff of the restaurant was like a big ol' family, everyone had worked there for the majority of their lives, and even if they were foul mouthed, loud cunts, they loved each other dearly.

A dish came crashing against a wall, and more shouting ensued, and for a moment Zoro thought about stepping inside to check what was really happening, but Sanji was quicker to come outside.

"You clean that up, because I'm done with your endless fucking teasing!" Sanji yelled, giving his back to Zoro.

"You're not the boss of me!" Carne shouted from inside.

"I'm the son of your boss, you do what I fucking told you to!" Sanji yelled again, before pulling the door shut. "Jesus fucking Christ!" he growled as he turned around, cheeks flushed red as he finally looked at Zoro "Hey, sorry about that. He was really driving me insane!"

Zoro shook his head "Don't worry about it, it's cool."

Why was he feeling awkward already? He didn't know whether he should just go ahead and kiss him as a greeting. That's what couples do, normally, but he was feeling completely paralyzed. This shit was starting to really get on his nerves.

Sanji held up the bag that he normally used to bring Zoro his lunch when he still worked at the gym.

"Your dinner, I made you some Katsudon." he said.

He was still reeling from the fight, Zoro could tell. So he decided to finally walk up to him and grab him by the front of his uniform, pulling him into a soothing kiss.

Sanji was surprised at first, Zoro felt him stiffen up against him, clearly not expecting the kiss, but then quickly relaxing and wrapping an arm around Zoro's neck and tilting his head to the side in order to deepen the kiss. Zoro looped his arms around Sanji's waist, keeping him close as he kept kissing him nice and slow, until the man in his arms almost felt boneless against his body.

"Hello to you, too, mister." Sanji purred against Zoro's lips as he pulled away.

Zoro grinned, and pecked at Sanji's lips one last time, before looking down at the bag of food "So… Shall we pick up our little ritual, again?"

"Yeah, we shall…" Sanji smiled, then added with a sigh "No benches here, though. Just that crappy, plastic chair."

Zoro looked over at it, it looked definitely clean enough to sit on, but he wasn't too sure about its sturdiness.

"Think it'll be able to hold both of us?" Zoro asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Why? You want me to sit on your lap and feed you Japanese food?" Sanji asked, an impish smirk appearing on his lips.

"I wouldn't mind that." Zoro grinned in return.

He was finally loosening up again, just falling into that kind of natural banter that had always been part of their relationship. There was no place for embarrassment and awkwardness, it was never there to begin with, and being officially a couple didn't really have to make that much of a difference.

"Oh, really?" Sanji chuckled, and pushed Zoro towards the chair "I can't really give you a lap dance, out here, but I'll sit in your lap." he bit his bottom lip, and curiously enough Zoro didn't see any malice there.

Zoro let himself be pushed towards the chair and sat down, waiting for Sanji to sit on his lap sideways, then started unpacking his dinner on Sanji's lap.

"I really hope we don't end up on the fucking ground." Zoro laughed as he peeled the lid off of his rice, and inhaled the steam that came out of it "I'm fucking starving."

"We'll be alright, it holds Carne's fat ass just fine." Sanji commented, Zoro saw him as he almost reached for a cigarette, but probably refrained from doing it just because Zoro was about to eat. "How long did you train for?"

Zoro shrugged and took a bite of food, his eyes dropped shut and he let out a pleased moan. He had really missed Sanji's cooking, that rice felt like heaven against his tongue.

"You like that?" Sanji asked, momentarily forgetting about the work out question.

"S'alright." Zoro said, eyes focused on his meal.

"Fuck you!" Sanji cried out, and nearly got up from Zoro's lap, taking the Katsudon with him.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Zoro laughed, wrapping an arm around Sanji and keeping him in place "It's delicious, Cook. It really is."

The only source of light was a single spotlight, perched right above the backdoor of the kitchen, its light was cold but not bright or strong enough to really light up the area, yet Zoro could perfectly see the blood rushing up to Sanji's cheeks, painting them a dark shade of pink.

"That's better…" Sanji muttered, averting his gaze from Zoro and casually looking over at the closed door.

"I trained for… I don't know, three to four hours, maybe? I didn't keep track of time." Zoro said, changing subject because he knew that Sanji had been extremely pleased by his praise, but it made him way too sheepish.

"Are you planning on becoming as big as Dwayne Johnson?" Sanji asked, turning his still flushed face back to Zoro and raising an eyebrow.

"You love Dwayne Johnson." Zoro retorted with a scowl, and a mouth full of food.

"Didn't Shanks teach you not to speak with your mouth full?"

Zoro opened his mouth to show him the chewed up contents, and Sanji backhanded him in the chest.

"Stop being a gross child!"

They both laughed like the pair of idiots that they were, and went on with their quiet bantering as Zoro finished his dinner. Of course, he tried to eat as slowly as possible, so that their moment together would last longer, and Sanji's shift would be over as soon as possible.

"I'm not kissing you, I know you probably still have some chewed food in your mouth and you'll definitely do something disgusting!" Sanji said as he pushed Zoro's face away.

"I won't! C'mon!" Zoro groaned.

Suddenly the door flew open, slamming against the wall, and making both Sanji and Zoro flinch hard enough to nearly tip over the chair.

"Sanji, it's been more than an hour! What the fuck are y–" Zeff stopped dead in his speech, as he stared at Zoro and Sanji, looking like a pair of deers caught in the headlights.

"Z-Zeff…" Zoro didn't know where to put his hands anymore. His first instinct would have been pushing Sanji on the floor, but that wouldn't have been a great idea, so he just held onto the plastic armrests for dear life "It's been a while. Hi…"

Zeff had never been a very present figure in Zoro's life. Mostly because Zoro never really hung out at Sanji's, it was always the other way around, for many reasons. Zeff was also usually very busy with the restaurant, and not really involved in the goth or metal scene in the way in which Shanks and Mihawk were. Zeff had never gone to a Murder Of Crows concert, for instance, while Zoro's parents had.

"Yeah…" Zeff cleared his throat, briefly looking at the floor "You… You look good. Are you doing good?" he muttered.

Zoro felt Sanji vibrate in his lap, but he didn't move his hands from the armrests "Yeah, I am. Are you?"

Well, that was one hell of an awkward interaction.

"You guys are killing me, for fuck's sake." Sanji groaned, getting up from Zoro's lap and stuffing everything that had been sitting in his lap into the bag.

"What?" Zeff asked, staring wide-eyed at his son "I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting to see him and it's been a while!"

Zoro stood up himself "It's alright! Really... I agree with you." he told Zeff as he gestured for Sanji to calm down.

Sanji glared at his boyfriend, then pouted like a sulking kid who wasn't getting his way. Zoro sighed, he knew perfectly about the rocky relationship with his father, he knew that Sanji probably was embarrassed by the entire situation, but there was no reason to lash out at Zeff. Not in that very moment.

"I'll leave you guys to it…" Zeff grumbled, turning on his heels to get back inside, and Zoro threw Sanji a glance.

"Dad…" Sanji rolled his eyes, trying to drop the attitude. Zeff stopped in his tracks "It's alright... I guess this is all very new… To all of us." Sanji added, sounding as if he was making a physical effort to get the words out.

"It is..." Zeff nodded "I'm an old food who gets embarrassed over small nonsense, but it is very new to me to see you happy. And I'm glad."

Zoro felt his heart drop to his stomach, and turned to look at Sanji beside him. He was gripping hard at the bag in his hands, body tense like a violin string. Zoro could imagine the amount of emotions that were washing over Sanji, even if he wasn't saying a word, nor making a sound.

"If you wanna get off your shift, you can do that." Zeff said softly, the faintest hint of an encouraging smile on his lips.

"Aren't you gonna fire me, if I do?" Sanji asked, his voice broke mid sentence, but tried to keep it cool.

"No, I won't, you dumb Eggplant." Zeff let himself smile, this time for real.

"Shitty geezer…" Sanji muttered, gaze dropping to the floor, coyly.

Zoro felt incredibly privileged to witness such a tender moment between the two. They had gone through some of the roughest times on earth, and for the longest time Sanji thought that Zeff had never really given a damn about him. Zeff was an old fool, perhaps, a fool who had loved and lost almost his entire world, and had needed help. He wasn't the best father on earth, and had admitted to it, but he tried to get better and overcome that coldness and gruffness that actually hid a gentle and caring heart. Zoro could still see how hard it was for Zeff, but he could also see how much he loved his son.

"Go on, get changed and punch out. You worked enough for today, made everyone want to die in that kitchen." Zeff sighed.

Zoro snorted, remembering the very loud argument between Sanji and Carne.

"Not my fault if they can't handle to work under pressure." Sanji shrugged.

"Under pressure, not the fucking civil war." Zeff retorted as he started back inside.

"Fuck off!" Sanji growled, and began to follow his father, then he turned to Zoro "I'll be back soon, yeah?"

Zoro nodded, still trying to bite back his laughter. He watched as Sanji went back inside the building, and once again found it hard to believe that things were this way, now.

–

They would have rather walked, just to let the chilly air of the night cool both their spirits and minds, but Sanji had an early shift the following morning, hence why they decided to take his car.

The ride was quiet, not awkward, music was playing softly through the vehicle, and Zoro nearly felt himself slipping off to sleep, but didn't want Sanji to drive alone, even if just for a short ride.

"I'm sorry if I pushed you to speak to Zeff." Zoro said while they were walking up to the front door of his house. He had the keys in his hands and he couldn't stop fumbling with them.

Sanji turned to look at him, his eyebrows raised in surprise. He shrugged a shoulder, the ghost of a small smile playing on his lips.

"That's alright," Sanji nodded "we've been making some kind of progress, and I guess tonight was one more step into the right direction." he confessed, briefly looking down at the garden path.

It was Zoro's turn to raise his eyebrows in surprise. It was truly great news to know that things were starting to get better between Sanji and his father. Especially because their situation had always had a huge impact on Sanji's self destructive behavior. Maybe, from this point forward, Sanji would slowly get better. Zoro was certainly going to be there to help him through the way.

"Oh… That's great. I'm glad." Zoro nodded.

He wished he could have sounded a lot more enthusiastic, but in the back of his head he knew that Sanji wouldn't have wanted him to make a big deal out of it.

"So am I, I guess…" Sanji shrugged, exactly not making a big deal out of it. "Can we get inside, now? I really need to lay down." Sanji asked, and Zoro could see all the exhaustion in his eyes.

"Yeah, sure. I'm really tired, too." Zoro nodded, and got to unlocking the door.

"Thank you." Sanji said as he pressed a kiss to Zoro's jaw, and in that moment he knew that Sanji wasn't talking about going to sleep, at all.

"Don't mention it." Zoro smiled, and returned the kiss, by pressing his lips against Sanji's.

They intertwined their fingers together, holding hands as they made their way inside the unusually quiet house, only to find Shanks and Mihawk asleep on the couch. The pale, cerulean light from the TV illuminating their faces as they sat huddled together, a blanket draped over their bodies, the volume of the device was low enough so that it wouldn't wake everyone else in the entire household.

Zoro felt Sanji squeeze his fingers, and when he looked over at him, his heart positively shrunk upon seeing the longing in Sanji's eyes, and the way in which his bottom lip worried between his teeth.

"I never thought I'd say this, but…" Sanji whispered, then paused to gulp around the lump in his throat "I want this to be us, in a few years."

Zoro wanted to cry. Or die. Or both. He really didn't know what kind of emotions he was feeling, but they were truly overwhelming. If Sanji never thought he would have said these words, Zoro never thought he'd ever hear them, and that was a fact.

"Yeah," Zoro began whispering "I guess there's a big chance that we'll become two bitter old farts."

Sanji had to stifle his laughter, but rolled his eyes and slapped Zoro's arm "I try to be sweet, and you spew nonsense. Shame on you."

"I'm lowering the risk of diabetes." Zoro retorted right away.

"Fuck you!" Sanji whisper-yelled, hitting Zoro again while he tried not to laugh too hard.

Zoro glanced one last time at his parents sleeping on the couch, then looked back at Sanji's face in the dimly lit room. He looked so damn beautiful when he laughed, Zoro wished he could be able to never make him cry, ever again.

"Let's go, before we wake them or anyone else up." Zoro whispered, and tugged on Sanji's hand.

The blond nodded and followed him through the rest of the house, and upstairs. From Luffy's room they could hear the TV on, he was probably in there with Usopp. Ace's room was quiet, and Zoro knew that he was probably spending the night at Smoker's. He was starting to wonder if maybe Ace was going to move permanently at Smoker's, the thought made him both happy for his brother, but also kind of sad, because things were definitely changing for his family.

When they were finally inside Zoro's room, Sanji immediately took off his coat, kicked off his shoes and shimmied out of his jeans. Zoro smirked at the sight, and did just the same, watching as Sanji crawled on top of the bed and sat on his hunches. The blond wriggled his fingers in Zoro's direction as an invitation, a smile curving his lips.

Zoro stepped closer to him and wrapped his arms around Sanji's frame, smirking down at him while Sanji pushed his green bangs away from his forehead, before snaking his arms around Zoro's neck.

"What are you smiling about?" Sanji asked, his blue eyes shining into the warm yellow light of the table light.

"I could ask you the same question." Zoro huffed.

"I'm so happy, and it's kinda scary." Sanji confessed, his smirk faded right away, and Zoro furrowed his eyebrows.

"Don't." Zoro shook his head "It's gonna be fine…"

"How do you know for sure?" Sanji shook his head, and the sadness in his eyes was there again, as if someone had flicked on a switch.

Zoro placed a hand on Sanji's jaw, his gaze hardening as he stared into Sanji's "I know it 'cause we're together, now. Things won't magically disappear, but I'll be with you through thick and thin."

Sanji's jaw slacked, his eyes widening as Zoro finished speaking. He didn't say anything, but Zoro knew he was holding back his tears, and before Zoro could say anything else, Sanji pulled him into a sweet, yet desperate kiss. Zoro held him close in a reassuring embrace, kissing him back deeply and trying to convey his feelings in the way they touched.

"I love you so fucking much…" Sanji whimpered against Zoro's lips.

"I love you a stupid amount, too." Zoro whispered in response, before their lips sealed together again.

The passion, the need, the love, it was all there, as they devoured each other and clung to one another as if their survival depended solely on it. Yet there was no hunger, nothing that could scare Sanji off once again. Zoro was there to ground him, to remind him that that was their reality now, and that he wasn't going to fade away, nor let anyone else harm him in any way. Sanji was losing himself into the contact, starving for affection and the most intimate, yet innocent kind of touch.

When the air had almost completely been drained out of their lungs and their lips parted, they fell into bed, curled together in a tangle of limbs. Their gazes content but tired at the same time, as they stared into each other's eyes.

"Are you feeling better, now?" Zoro asked softly, failing to bite back a yawn.

"Yeah…" Sanji sighed, tucking his head under Zoro's chin.

"Still up for our…" Zoro hesitated a bit, grimacing as the word rolled off his tongue "date?"

Sanji moved his head back to stare up at Zoro, and glowered at him "Of course, I deserve it. Remember?"

Zoro rolled his eyes "I didn't say you didn't."

"Yes. I'm still up for it. And you better take me someplace nice." Sanji said before going back to rest his head on Zoro's chest.

"Yes. I will." Zoro said as his hand went up to stroke Sanji's hair.

"Attaboy."

Zoro was still beyond clueless. He definitely needed to come up with a good date plan. He could do this, he just needed to follow Sabo's advice, and things were going to go smoothly. Granted, he'd rather they would go perfectly, but that would have definitely put too much pressure on him.

He tried to go to sleep for the longest while, and Sanji had definitely fallen asleep already, but he couldn't. He kept obsessing over the whole date thing, about what they could do, where they could eat and thinking about whatever else could have happened afterwards. Eventually he dozed off, when the million thoughts spinning around his skull finally made him too exhausted to stay awake any further.

–

When Zoro woke up the next morning, he was alone in his bed. Sanji and his clothes were nowhere to be found so he assumed that he had probably gone to work, already. Not that he had any idea of what was the time, but if he concentrated hard enough he could sort of remember Sanji pecking at his lips before sneaking out of his room.

He wondered if Sanji had met anyone on his way out, even if he had no idea about how early it had been when he'd actually left. Zoro grabbed his phone and checked the time.

It was only 10:30, he'd definitely thought it would have been later.

Maybe he should have gotten up, so that he could start processing everything in a longer period of time, so that he wouldn't be rushing later. He felt the faintest hint of uneasiness fill the pit of his stomach, so he put the phone back down and pushed his fingers into his eyes, trying to repress any unwanted feeling.

He didn't want to start getting nervous so early, he still had an entire day to freak out, why did he have to begin this soon? Fucking hell.

Zoro grabbed his phone again and decided that browsing through restaurants and ignoring any notifications of sorts, could have improved the way he felt. He was going to start by picking out a place where he could take Sanji out to eat, so he could get at least one aspect of the date sorted.

Zoro would have gladly picked a Japanese restaurant, he was always in the mood to binge eat sushi and sashimi, but it wasn't really Sanji's favorite cuisine. He needed to find an Italian restaurant, that would have definitely fit Sanji's sophisticated palate better. Too bad he was clueless about Italian cuisine, and definitely didn't know what Italian restaurant would have been a good one.

Zoro browsed through a few, wondering if the names sounded sketchy, as if the owners weren't truly Italian and their cuisine was just a knock off. This might have taken a lot longer than he'd anticipated, so he sucked in a deep breath and decided that he should have had breakfast and a shower, before making any reckless decision.

He dragged himself out of bed, slipped on a pair of sweatpants and went downstairs. He was really, really hoping that he was going to be alone for breakfast, but in such a crowded house like his, it was an empty hope.

"Look who finally showed up!" Shanks commented, way too loudly, as soon as Zoro appeared in the kitchen. He was sitting at the table, a sarcastic smirk plastered on his lips as he tapped a spoon on the rim of his mug, once again making way too much noise.

Luckily enough, he was the only one there. No brother, no brother's boyfriend, no other father. That was a good start.

"I'll say it again... I'm sorry." Zoro sighed, moving to the stove to make himself some tea. He'd have preferred beer, but he figured his father would have had a lot to say about that, too.

"It's alright. But your father did find a broken bench at the dojo, and he's not happy about it." Shanks said right before taking a sip of coffee.

Zoro groaned, throwing his head back. He had almost forgotten about that. "Shit, I'm gonna fix that, I promise."

Shanks shook his head "What's going on, Zoro? I thought everything was fine, now!"

No, he wasn't going to do that. Having one of his fathers laugh at him just like Sabo did, really wasn't something he was looking forward to. Zoro started to set up the kettle and just shrugged.

"It was an accident, I was working out with the big weights and it went South," Zoro explained "the bench unfortunately, was a casualty."

"Right, you can tell that to someone who hasn't raised you and doesn't know when you're lying, and maybe they'll believe you." Shanks pressed, that infuriating smirk still playing on his lips.

"Look, that's what happened, ok? I don't know why you won't believe me!" Zoro growled, going back to stare at the kettle.

That was some bullshit, how could he even tell he was lying about that? Couldn't Shanks just leave him be, for once?

"Ok, ok..." Shanks sighed, going back to nursing his coffee "But if you need any advice, you know you can always count on your dads."

Zoro really wanted to take the kettle and beat Shanks with it, but that was the worst idea possible. The saying 'a mother always knows' was simply inaccurate, Zoro's fathers where the ones who always knew, apparently, and it was something that drove him insane.

"I'll come to you if I need to be made fun of, don't worry." Zoro said absentmindedly, then switched off the stove to pour the scalding water into his mug.

"Why would I make fun of you?" Shanks asked, genuinely puzzled. Or at least that was what he wanted it to look like. Zoro knew that Shanks loved his sons, but he also really loved dragging them.

Zoro had made a big mistake by letting that slip, because he knew that it was over now, he needed to come clean or Shanks wasn't going to let go of it for hell knows how long. He was just going to say it, after all he did need help, didn't he? Or else he wouldn't be so freaked out.

"Because I'm pathetic, and I don't even know where to take Sanji out for dinner tonight, alright?" Zoro snarled, taking a seat across from his father and struggling not to slam the mug on the table and consequently shatter it into pieces.

Shanks' jaw slacked slightly, he was... Flabbergasted, and he rarely was the type of man that reacted like that. Zoro shook his head, at least he wasn't outright laughing at him, that was something.

"Since you're not eating all of that..." Zoro went on to steal a piece of toast from his father's plate.

"Wait, wait, wait..." Shanks finally regained his apparently lost consciousness, slapped Zoro's hand and took his piece of toast back. "First of all, don't steal my food," he began, glaring at his son "second of all. You're taking Sanji on a date? Like a real date?" Shanks' lips curled into a smirk, and Zoro wanted to die.

Why did he have to put himself through so much pain?

"Yeah... I am." Zoro sighed, looking down at his mug of tea. He knew that Shanks would have probably started planning a wedding for he and Sanji, or something. "Please, don't make it more painful than it already is."

"What? Why?" Shanks furrowed his eyebrows "What's painful about going on a date? That's great! Aren't you excited?"

"The fact that I've-" Zoro stopped himself before he could outright confess that he had never in his life gone on a date before, nor taking anyone out, for that matter. "Nevermind." Zoro shook his head and went to sip on his tea, before he could drag himself into something worse.

"Look," Shanks pushed his dish of toast in Zoro's direction, making his son look up at him puzzled "it doesn't have to be anything too elaborated, just take him out for dinner somewhere you know he'd really like, maybe afterwards you can take him to the movies, or to a club?"

Zoro had decided to abandon all his pride and all the fear he had about being made fun of, and just listened to Shanks. He didn't even care about the toast that was now underneath his nose, he just wanted this date to be good.

"Yeah, I've thought about that, he likes Italian food or... I don't know, he's a cook and he likes fancy cuisine, or whatever!" Zoro groaned, trying not to stare too long into Shanks' eyes.

He needed a break from that interaction, so he stuffed his face with toast and focused on trying to finish his breakfast.

"He's got a very fine palate, I'll give you that. I remember he didn't even eat McDonald's as a child." Shanks recalled, a fondness in his voice that made a shiver ran through Zoro's spine.

"Yeah, he's a pain in the ass." Zoro mumbled, shaking his head.

"I guess he can be, yeah." Shanks commented with a nod and a laugh.

Zoro looked up at Shanks again. He didn't think this would have really been as easy as it was. He had imagined that even his father would have started making fun of him, just like Sabo, but he wasn't. He wasn't even being too excited about this, he was just trying to genuinely help him feel better about this whole thing.

"I guess what really bothers me is that I don't know how to act? I mean, I've known him my entire life, but I'm really scared that things are just gonna be awkward... Y'know?" he confessed at last.

"You're just like Mihawk, he was so nervous when we went on our first date!" Shanks let out a soft, fond laugh as he probably reminisced about that day "He was so nervous he'd fuck everything up, and the more he tried to be composed, the more he looked like a dummy!"

And there it was. Of course it had to take an awkward, unhelpful turn. Why did he keep trusting Shanks with any of these kind of things? Why was he trusting anyone with this whole situation, at all? He was way better off dealing with this on his own.

"That's really helpful, I'm so relieved now that I know I'm gonna look like an idiot." Zoro shook his head "Why did I ever start talking to you?" he deadpanned.

Shanks furrowed his eyebrows "It was the best date of my life, you dumbass!" he rolled his eyes "He was trying to act unlike him, but when I laughed at him, he went back to his usual self. And it was perfect, because I love him just the way he is. And Sanji loves you just the way you are, so you don't need to be nervous about it!"

Zoro listened to everything that Shanks said, and he was right. Of course he was right. That was something that he had thought about profusely, and he knew that trying too hard would have made him look like a complete tool.

"I really wanna stop being so nervous, but I can't? It's driving me insane." Zoro growled lowly, resting back against the chair.

"Look, I'll text you some places where Mihawk and I have been, some-" Shanks made air quotes "fancy places that Sanji could like."

"Please, I need nice places, not old people places." Zoro raised a hand as he teased his father.

"Shut the fuck up!" Shanks slapped his hand from across the table, but was unable to smirk "They're nice places, and your dad and I aren't old!"

"Sure, sure..." Zoro stood up, knowing that it was about time he went to take a shower and get ready for the day.

"You're an idiot." Shanks shook his head.

"Just like my parents." Zoro grinned.

"Zoro!"

Zoro laughed, watching as his father rolled his eyes and went back to his own breakfast.

"Thank you." Zoro said softly.

Shanks raised his eyes once more "Go get that shower, you stink."

Zoro grimaced, and took that as his cue to know that the heartfelt moment was finally over, and they could go back to not being raw, open and sappy. He smiled at his father and moved to leave the kitchen and go upstairs.

He was going to need that shower to wash away all the weirdness of being so emotional, too.

.

–

To Zoro's surprise, after his shower he had really found a list of restaurants that Shanks had texted him, and Zoro found himself checking all of them out. His parents really had good taste, no matter how much he could make fun of them, and one of the places had truly got his attention.

The reviews said it had a nice view on the ocean, since it was placed at the top of a skyscraper, and had huge panoramic windows that seemed to be quite astonishing. The photos showed that the room was dimly lit, with very nice looking tables and chairs, with fairy lights draping the ceiling. Shit that was really romantic, he wondered if it was too much? But he figured that Sanji would have liked the view of the sea and the atmosphere of the restaurant. It was a bit pricey, but top quality Italian cuisine in such a place was definitely going to be expensive, and Zoro didn't really mind. All he wanted was for Sanji to be happy... And yeah, maybe he also wanted to impress him a little, but it wasn't a crime, right?

He decided that he should have been really quick about the reservation, since there weren't many tables in the restaurant to begin with, so he quickly went to tap on the 'call us' button of their site and was immediately redirected to the outgoing call screen. He didn't expect his heart to be pounding the way it was into his ribcage, he wasn't the type to be nervous about phone calls, but he really, really wanted to be able to book a table, and he hoped he wasn't going to be disappointed.

"This is the Angolo di Paradiso restaurant, how may I help you?" a crystalline, feminine voice greeted him from the other end of the phone.

"Uh, hello... I wanted to know whether it'd be possible to reserve a table for two, for tonight? Maybe... Close to one of the windows?" Zoro asked, sounding way too dumb for his own sake. He wanted to bang his head into the wall.

"Yes, sir. We still have two tables left, for tonight. I'll reserve the one closest to the window for you!"

Zoro felt immediate relief, as if he had waited to hear that for his entire life "Oh thank you, yes. That's perfect. Thank you, really! I'll see you later, then." he said, and if it weren't for the girl's following words, he'd have probably ended the call right there.

"Sir, I need a name and a time, before you hang up!"

Oh good God. He really was losing his damn mind because of this date thing.

"Uh... Of course you do!" Zoro let out a nervous laugh, and hoped that the floor would be so kind as to permanently swallow him, and save him from this embarrassment "Roronoa, and I guess 8 is gonna be fine."

"That's splendid, can I get a phone number, too?"

Zoro proceeded to give his own cellphone number before apologizing again for his stupidity, and thanking the girl before hanging up. This time without sounding like an idiot. Maybe.

He had reserved a table somewhere kind of far away from his or Sanji's house, so before he let himself be completely consumed by his own stupidity, he decided that it was better to let Sanji know right away that they had a reservation and that he was going to need to pick him up quite ahead of the booking time.

'how is work going? also did u run into shanks while leaving the house? he's been a fucking sap all morning so I hope he didnt make u feel uncomfortable. btw I booked us a table at a restaurant 8 oclock so ill swing by at 7ish so we wont be late ok?'

He hit the send button and then went back to his room to put on some clothes. He then started wondering about what the hell he was going to wear that night, and fuck, the more he thought about this whole thing, the more he thought it was turning into a nightmare. He would have gone with one of his usual looks, with leather pants, new rock boots, a leather studded jacket and a black ripped tank top underneath, maybe some eyeliner smeared all over his eyes... But what if that place was too fancy for that?

On the other hand, why the fuck should he try and look normal, just because he was going to eat someplace fancy, he was still going to pay for the damn dinner, so he really shouldn't have to tone down for that. Sanji liked when Zoro wore leather pants, he always made way too many comments about them, so yeah, he was definitely going to wear those.

He then stopped to think for a moment that he didn't even worry that much about his outfits when he was going on stage, and now he was having an entire interior monologue about what he was going to wear for his date with Sanji.

Things were getting way out of hand, and Zoro didn't like that. The out of character conversation with Shanks, the anxious and almost disastrous phonecall to make a dinner reservation, and now this whole dramatic moment of not knowing what to wear... This couldn't be his life now, that needed to be definitely just a one time thing.

While he argued with himself, his phone buzzed and alerted Zoro of Sanji's reply.

'hey its all good. carne is still all worked up cuz of last night so i told him to fuck off. and no i didnt see shanks luckily! i wasnt ready for awkwardness hahaha. wow you actually made a reservation? im starting to get excited! be here on time and dont get fucking lost on your way to my house'

Zoro didn't even have time to finish reading the first text that another one came in.

'gotta love the fact that ur picking me up but i gotta drive LMFAO'

Zoro rolled his eyes really hard at that reply, so he quickly had to answer to that.

'quit being a smartass or ur staying tf home'

The reply to that came right away.

'shut up. ill see u later u dumb mosshead'

Zoro shook his head, and even if Sanji was trying to be irritating as usual, Zoro couldn't help but smirk as he answered.

'yeah. later u dumb blond'

–

Of course the rest of the morning and day went agonizingly slow. Zoro decided to go to the dojo to fix the bench, and obviously got a few caustic remarks from Mihawk, but at the end of the day he tried to just mildly get along with him. Mihawk put him to work by leaving his Kendo class to him, and Zoro found that to be immensely helpful, so that time would pass by quicker.

He avoided all kinds of conversation with Mihawk that weren't strictly professional, because like hell he was going to replay what had happened earlier that morning with Shanks. He was through with that nonsense, and definitely didn't need anyone else's poor advice for what was going to happen later that evening.

Zoro didn't know how things were going to play out, but he knew he just needed to do one more uncharacteristic thing for the sake of his and Sanji's special night, and then he was hopefully permanently done making a complete fool out of himself. Though the more he thought about it, the less it seemed actually uncharacteristic, it was just something that he had never really done for anyone, and it was definitely time to do it, at least for the person he loved.

He got out of the dojo around 5:05, and cursed at himself out loud when he realized that he had left his cellphone inside the changing room. Way to lose some precious minutes that he had to get ready. He was home by 5:40, because his dumb ass had of course taken the longer route, instead of the shortcut, and now he had to get dressed and ready to go out again in a rush.

At 6:18 he was in his full outfit: the leather pants were there, but he decided to go for a black button down shirt that he left nearly half open on his chest, with a crow skull pendant dangling between his pectorals. His green mohawk was slicked back, and he had definitely added the black eyeliner to his eyes, because at the end of the day it was part of his style and he liked it. He fixed his crooked septum ring as he looked into the mirror, then shrugged on his coat and grabbed his wallet, and he was good to go.

He prayed to Odin, Thor, Freyja, Freyr, Baldr, Heimdall and any other deity out there that he wouldn't meet any of his family members on his way out, but of course all odds had to categorically be against him. There was just no winning for him.

"Oh, damn! Where are you going all dressed up like that?" Ace piped up from somewhere behind Zoro, making him cringe as he stopped in his tracks and turned around to see that Ace, Usopp and Luffy were all sitting together on the couch.

Fuck, this was a nightmare.

"Out?" Zoro simply stated.

"Smelling like an escort?" Usopp chimed in, making everyone else laugh.

Ah. Comedy gold.

"I'm not gonna beat you to a pulp only because I'll be late, if I do." Zoro snarled, turning on his heels to just get out of that hellhole.

"C'mon, we're just messing with you!" Ace laughed.

"He's got a daaaaaaaate!" Luffy added, and the other two laughed at the very mature addition.

Zoro didn't even say anything, he just stepped out of the house, fuming, and slammed the door behind him. That day was just awful, and he truly hoped it wasn't going to end like complete crap, because he really couldn't have handled it.

He quickly started in the direction of Sanji's house, checking the time and muttering a few curses as he tried his best not to get lost and make sure to take the shortest route. He needed to make a stop before picking Sanji up, and he was seriously running out of time, but if he ran all the way there he was probably going to end up sweaty and gross, and Sanji would have probably scalped him for being a brute or all the other sweet names he liked to call him.

He grabbed his phone for a quick time check, and to see if he had remembered to save the restaurant address, keeping one eye on his surroundings in the process. Zoro knew that if he didn't keep himself aware of his position at all times, he could easily lose track of where he was going and take triple the time to get to Sanji's.

He was on schedule (more or less, maybe with a handful of minutes of delay on what he had planned), he wasn't sweating too much, he had saved the address they needed to reach, and he had managed to take the route that took him to Sanji's, while also allowing him to make that stop he needed to. Everything was apparently going according to plan, but he honestly didn't want to claim victory yet.

–

Bless Zeff for allowing him to go to work since early morning. Bless Patty and Carne for being insufferable, loud mouthed cunts. Bless everyone and everything that was keeping Sanji completely busy for the entire morning and afternoon, because otherwise he would have probably exploded.

Of course his entire day had been spent mostly arguing and shouting, he refrained from throwing more cookware, even if he had come dangerously close to flinging a chopping knife at Patty's face once he had spewed the umpteenth joke about Sanji being way too skilled at handling cucumbers and zucchini. The knife had obviously remained firmly in his hand, while he decided to comment instead that with that big mouth of his he should have sucked Carne's dick, instead of fantasizing about Sanji handling other people's.

When the end of his shift rolled in it was 5 pm, and Sanji had practically flown upstairs to take a relaxing bath and get ready for the evening and night ahead. He would have of course lied if he said that he hadn't thought about Zoro at all, while working, but now his brain was suddenly overloading with questions, doubts, ideas and everything else that his mind could conjure up.

By Zoro's text he had suspected that he was taking him someplace nice. Maybe fancy? He really couldn't believe that, Zoro booking a table in a fancy restaurant was truly too much for Sanji, he was definitely going to tease him to death. It wasn't Zoro's style at all, but if the Marimo had truly made a reservation, that definitely meant that they weren't going to McDonald's. So automatically that thought had lead to the next, most obvious one: what the fuck was he going to wear?

Sanji really had a lot of clothes to pick from, ranging from entire outfits to single articles of clothing that still needed to be paired up with others and accessorized. But what should he wear? He figured that wearing a dress or a skirt wouldn't have been the most appropriate thing – even if he knew how much Zoro liked those outfits on him. At the same time he still wanted to look good, not only for himself, but his boyfriend too.

He spent way too much time either half buried into the closet, and in front of the mirror, trying on outfit after outfit. He didn't want to look excessively like a vampire that was still stuck in the XIX century, but definitely wasn't going to tone down their own personal style too much. Sanji looked down at the tangle of pants and leggings that he had let on the floor, and at the tops that laid on the bed right behind him, but ultimately what he was wearing in that very moment was what he had set his mind on. A black, Victorian goth button down shirt, with ruffles on the collar, front and cuffs of the sleeves, a pair of shiny black leggings with a beautiful embroidered mesh panel on the thighs, and a pair of Ravage 11 Demonia boots.

He smirked at himself through the mirror, knowing that Zoro was absolutely going to love how he looked, but then his eyes dropped to the mess he had made of his room and he immediately wanted to die. He needed to tidy everything up again, do his makeup and fix his hair before it was too late and Zoro rang the doorbell to take him out.

Sanji sucked in a deep breath and got to work, trying to fold shirts, hang pants and leggings, and just store everything accurately back inside drawers and up racks, in the shortest amount of time he could. He heard his phone chirp with texts a little too many times, but he had told himself he wouldn't have been allowed to take a peek at the screen until he had cleaned up that mess completely.

It nearly took him an hour, but knowing that he didn't have to do any kind of elaborated makeup wouldn't have taken him more than thirty minutes. He was still feeling confident. Up until the moment in which it struck him again that he was going on a date with Zoro and he felt like he was about to pass out.

"Get a fucking grip, Sanji!" he groaned to himself.

He couldn't lose his mind all over again, he needed to stay positive and keep himself busy until Zoro was going to arrive. His phone chirped again, and Sanji flinched so hard he nearly knocked over the chair he'd been leaning against.

"Fucking hell..." he whispered, picking up the phone from his bed and finding out that the texts were all from Nami.

'u ready for the date?'

' what time is he pickin u up?'

'did he say where is he takin u?'

'sanji did u die? Why arent u replying?'

'omg u really died'

'sanjiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii'

Sanji shook his head at all those texts, a smirk playing on his lips as he hit the record button of the voice notes.

"Hey! Sorry I didn't reply, I was picking out an outfit and I practically tore the closet apart," he laughed "so on top of getting into the outfit I chose, I had to put everything back and... Now I'm freaking the fuck out again. I gotta finish getting ready. He booked a table in a restaurant. A. Fucking. Table. Can you believe that? I didn't think he'd do something like that!" Sanji paused, grinning to himself as he moved to the bathroom to do his makeup and hair "I'm so nervous, though. Like really nervous, and I hope I'm not gonna fuck up my makeup." he ended the recording and let the message go through.

He didn't know what to say anymore, and actually the more he spoke, the more nervous he became, so it was better to just focus on finishing getting ready, and hope that if Nami was going to reply, she'd do it way before Zoro arrived.

Sanji focused back on primer, foundation, setting powder, drawing on eyebrows and doing some sort of subtle black smokey eyes. He wasn't a professional, but after years of practicing and watching tutorials and stuff online he had definitely mastered some of the dramatic looks he usually did for concerts, and at times he had even done makeup on others. He was truly glad that he liked makeup as much as he did, because it had completely absorbed him in that moment, and he wasn't thinking about anything else.

He was just done cleaning up some fallout, when Nami replied to his voice message with another voice message, and he decided to play it while he straightened his hair.

"He booked a table? Zoro did that? Are you really sure it wasn't someone else?" Nami laughed "Oh my God, that's amazing, really! That's impressive, I didn't think he'd do that! He's really gonna go all in for this date! Don't be too nervous babe, I'm sure you're gonna have a great time! He's probably gonna be just as nervous, and it's not good if you're both just tiptoeing around each other! Try to at least be the less nervous one, put him at ease and I'm sure this night is gonna be fantastic! Oh, send me a photo of the outfit, I wanna see it!"

Nami was right. If they were both too nervous maybe things would have just turned into a wreckage. He needed to try and at least tease Zoro a little bit, make a little fun of him... He just needed to be natural. He could do that. It was just Zoro, after all. The kid he'd grown up with, the boy who had been his best friend for his entire life, the one with which he'd started out a band, it was the same Zoro, he hadn't magically turned into some stranger that he was afraid to spend time with, a stranger that would have made things awkward. It was Zoro. The man he loved. The man he now got to call his boyfriend. There was no reason to be so nervous. Just like Nami had told him, they were still Zoro and Sanji, with the only difference being that now they were officially together.

He could do this. He could.

'ur right we're still just zoro and sanji after all no need to be so damn nervous and im gonna try and be cool ok? Promise'

Sanji typed up quickly before rushing out of the bathroom to go and take a mirror selfie of his outfit for Nami. He had to take it twice, because the lighting truly sucked in his room, especially when it was dark outside, but didn't bother taking a third one because he knew it was almost 7, and he was getting nervous all over again.

'when u try not to look like a 1800 vampire but u know its useless cause u ARE a 1800 vampire'

He typed up the caption, and just when he hit send he heard the intercom ring. He nearly dropped the cellphone, but managed to tighten the grip just at the last minute. He ran through the house and sucked in a big breath before picking up the handset "Who is this?"

"The one with beautiful green hair." was the croaked out response Sanji got, and he couldn't help but laugh at it "I hope this is not Zeff."

Sanji laughed even harder at that.

"It's Sanji, but I'd have really died if Zeff had answered instead!"

"I gotta pee, can I come up?"

Sanji scoffed "Sure, you child."

Sanji smiled and buzzed him in. That was definitely a nice and chill start, he could definitely see this going smoothly, Zoro wasn't being weird, and all seemed to be well. Apart from him having to use the toilet, but that was just another way to let Sanji know that he wasn't being awkward, just his usual self.

He opened the door and leaned against the doorframe, waiting for Zoro to climb up the short stairwell. He grinned when he finally saw him go up the final couple of stairs, he looked so damn good with that black shirt and jacket that Sanji couldn't help but bite his lower lip.

"Hey..." Zoro smirked when he saw him.

"Hello, there." Sanji said once Zoro was standing in front of him. There was a strange light twinkling in his eyes, and he was clearly hiding something behind his back. Again, what a child. "What's that? What are you hiding?" Sanji furrowed his eyebrows, trying to take a peek.

Zoro moved his arm in front of him, and suddenly a gorgeous bouquet of white lilies was placed right between them. Sanji's eyes widened so much that he thought they'd just pop right out of their sockets.

He had brought him flowers.

He had brought him lilies.

And Sanji was completely paralyzed as he felt his heartbeat drumming into his ears. He couldn't believe what was happening.

"You said you wanted people to bring you white lilies when you died, but in my opinion you deserve them now that you're alive." Zoro said, just as simply as that. As if what he had said wasn't going to cause Sanji to have to completely redo his entire makeup, or something.

"You... You..." Sanji tried to speak as he looked back up at Zoro, but he couldn't. Nothing came out. His throat felt like he'd swallowed a tennis ball, completely blocked, as he stared at the flowers.

His brain was trying to process everything, he didn't even know if Zoro had said anything else, because his ears felt completely muffled. He just kept staring at the white flowers in front of him, and so many different scenes from the past started replaying in his head. Sanji could vaguely remember Zeff bringing white lilies to his mother, he could remember her joy upon seeing the flowers and how she had explained to Sanji that all flowers have a meaning.

Zoro had remembered that one talk they had such a long time before, one night, as they were about to fall asleep. Zoro had remembered that lilies where his favorite flowers, just like they were his mother's, and had told Sanji that he deserved them. Did he also remember that he had told him about those flowers being a symbol of purity? Was he implying that he thought Sanji was pure to him, no matter how many very unholy things he had done? No matter all the impure things that people had done to him?

Sanji couldn't speak, it was impossible to convey what he was feeling with just words, they weren't enough. He took the bunch from Zoro's hand, staring at it a while longer, breath trembling and hitching in his throat as he tried to hold back the tears that were pushing their way out of his eyes, then threw his arms around Zoro's neck to pull him into a kiss.

He could feel Zoro's smirk against his lips, but also the salt of the tears that were already streaming down his face, unable to control them. Sanji didn't even care if he was going to ruin his makeup. All he cared about was Zoro and how incredible he was. He already knew that he was a special guy, but he wasn't expecting him to be so damn perfect.

Nobody else would have ever done something like that, something so meaningful and almost... Intimate. It was the perfect way Zoro had to prove that he truly loved him, and to prove that he actually did listen to him, even when Sanji didn't think he was actually paying attention. Zoro may have looked like the stoic, uninterested, cold person that many people thought he was, just by looking at his surface, but past that facade there was so much more, and Sanji was lucky enough to know what it was.

Sanji pulled back, feeling his eyes and cheeks wet with tears, and shook his head "Fucking hell, I had just finished doing my makeup! I gotta do it all over again, now!" he let out a soft laugh and tried not to touch his face, knowing that he'd probably smear black all over it.

Zoro grinned down at him, Sanji could tell he was both proud of himself and very much amused to see Sanji's runny makeup.

"You should have worn waterproof eyeliner, Cook."

"You should shut the fuck up!" Sanji laughed again, and slapped Zoro's arm.

"Can I come in, at least?" Zoro asked, the smug expression was still there, but with a softness that made Sanji's legs feel like jelly.

God, how was that klutz so damn handsome?

"Yeah, I guess you can..." Sanji said, stepping aside to let Zoro inside. He stared down at the flowers for a little longer. "I can't believe you got me these..." Sanji said, biting down on his lower lip as he looked over at Zoro.

Zoro was taking off his jacket and hanging it on the rack by the door, so he turned around with a shrug "I figured that to make the date better, I should have gotten you flowers," he rubbed the back of his neck, a small smirk curling his lips "and I knew your favorites."

Sanji could still feel his heart beating faster into his chest. He seriously needed to get used to this. To being treated in such a considerate way, like an actual person with feelings, emotions and needs. Or else he was going to have a heart attack really soon.

"God, you're such a sap, Marimo." Sanji teased "You're gonna so all soft, now? Drop the whole dark and broody attitude?" he smirked

"Oh, I'm a sap? You just cried over a bunch of flowers and you call yourself the Crow Prince." Zoro teased right back, a lopsided grin plastered on his lips.

"Shut up!" Sanji laughed, and before he could do anything else, like kick Zoro in the shin, the other man pulled him into another kiss.

"Go fix your face, or we're gonna be late." Zoro whispered against Sanji's lips.

"I'll pop these in a vase, then I'll fix my face real quick," Sanji purred, licking Zoro's upper lip "then I'll drive us to our date."

"This needs to stop!" Zoro groaned, while Sanji disappeared into the kitchen to find something to use as a vase for the flowers and fill it up with water.

"Not my fault if you're not allowed to drive!" Sanji half shouted back.

"Whatever! I'm gonna go take that damn piss, while you're playing with your flowers."

"I thought that was just an excuse to bring me the flowers?" Sanji asked, peeking his head from the kitchen, so that he could look at Zoro.

"It was! But I got kinda nervous..." Zoro muttered, rubbing the back of his neck in clear embarrassment.

Sanji laughed so hard he cried a little more. His face needed to be touched up, anyway, he might as well just spill some more tears here and there.

This was going to be a good night, he could feel it.

God, he was so in love with that dumbass.